1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fax routing systems and methods and, in particular, fax routing systems and methods which direct faxes over the most economical route.
2. Description of Related Art
The delivery of faxes is very important to modern-day business. The cost of toll calls, however, lessens the value of this important technology.
Toll-free telephone numbers have been created to partially alleviate this problem. Unfortunately, these telephone numbers are expensive and not in widespread use.
The Internet is another technology which is being used to advantageously carry faxes. Its widespread use, however, has been hampered by the need for special equipment (e.g., document readers) and the failure of many business to have the equipment which is necessary to receive a fax over the Internet.
One object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method which obviates these and other problems in the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method which routes a fax over the most economical route.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method which chooses the most economical route for the fax automatically.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method which does not require a special document scanner to read the fax, but can instead utilize a standard fax machine.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method which does not require a substantial investment in specialized computer equipment but, instead, can utilize an existing personal computer (xe2x80x9cPCxe2x80x9d).
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method which economically routes faxes using a minimum of equipment in addition to what is already possessed by the typical business.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fax routing system and method for routing faxes over the most economical route which is easy to operate.
These as well as still further objects, features and benefits of the present invention are provided by a fax routing system and method which is adaptable to using a standard fax machine and PC to identify the most economical route for the fax and to direct the fax over that route. The system and method includes a fax director connected to the fax machine, to the PC, to a telephone line, and, optionally, to the Internet.
Transmission of the fax begins in the normal manner by placing the fax to be sent in the standard fax machine. The fax director provides the standard fax machine with a dial tone and then receives and decodes the number which is dialed by the standard fax machine. This number is then routed to the PC, which looks it up in a table.
If the number is in the table, a corresponding Internet address is returned. The fax director then handshakes with the standard fax machine. The fax director then receives the fax being sent by the standard fax machine and converts it into a computer file. That computer file is then sent to the Internet address. The Internet address can be a standard IP address or an E-mail address.
If the number is not in the table, the fax director dials the telephone number over the telephone line and then connects the standard fax machine to the telephone line so that the fax can be sent in its normal manner.
These, as well as still further objects, features and benefits of the present invention will now become clear upon an examination of the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the preferred embodiments.